


You Scream, I Scream

by itstimetodrew



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, T rating is just for language nothing steamy sorry, and Fun Moments that we didn't get in canon, in this house we love awkward encounters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itstimetodrew/pseuds/itstimetodrew
Summary: Joey's working his part-time job at Duke's ice cream stand when he has a literal run-in with Marik. Joey knows he has to make up for the accident...but how?
Relationships: Marik Ishtar/Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27
Collections: Fake Outs & Mishaps





	You Scream, I Scream

Sunday was the worst day to be at the mall. It was crowded, it was loud, and it was overrun by teenage brats high on the joy of not being in school. Even worse than being at the mall was working there, and Joey had worked the last _six_ Sundays.

Not that he could complain too much. Duke was a nice enough guy to offer him a part-time job at his dad’s ice cream stand, and he desperately needed the extra cash.

“Woof woof!” A junior high kid taunted from his seat, glancing for approval from his cackling band of friends.

Even if it meant being the mascot. Duke said it was the dog costume or nothing, that’s all he had. But he _also_ knew how much Joey hated the gang’s running dog-themed jokes. So yeah, a nice enough guy, but still kind of a dick. And it wasn’t even the same dog costume from his game shop. Who had multiples of these laying around?

Unfortunately for Joey, the punk kids had nothing better to do and weren’t about to, as it were, let a sleeping dog lie.

“Hey dog man, can you howl for us?” Another kid asked with fake innocence, as if Joey hadn’t watched them snicker at him thirty seconds ago.

_Just ignore them, they’re not worth it,_ was all he could think. As much as he’d love to wipe a smirk off this kid’s face, no response could silence a smartmouthed 13-year-old bully. He knew because he had _been_ one; picking on people had been a number one past time. Joey made a quick turn away from the food court and towards the mall’s fountain, hoping the young teens would go back to their table. But no answer was just an invitation for more harassment.

One kid tugged on the costume’s tail, “Hey, is this real?”

Another, obnoxiously, “Have you been _spayed_?”

_That’s for girl dogs, dumbass,_ he thought, doubting the boy was smart enough to know the difference _and_ intentionally call him a girl. He couldn’t even get a good look at how many kids he was dealing with. The dog head gave him tunnel vision, with a layer of mesh over the eyes. He spun to rip the tail out of the little jerk’s hands, and jumped back, ready to tell them off. For a split second he felt his back hit something—a pillar?—before it disappeared.

But there weren’t any pillars near the fountain, just— **splash** — _oh fuck_ , he thought, as a still-not-work-appropriate “oh _shit,_ ” left his mouth. People. He just pushed someone right into the water.

Joey tore off the costume head to see what he’d done. The teens ran off laughing, getting away from the scene and any possible punishment.

He set the head down, an arm shooting forward, “Oh man, I’m so sorry are you—”

A cold shock went through Joey’s body, as if he was the one who’d fallen into the water. Marik. It was _Marik._ _What the hell is he doing here?_ He would have taken anyone else. A random stranger, or someone who could laugh it off like Yugi. Hell, he’d even take a furious Mai or arrogant Kai—well on second thought, maybe not _anyone_ else.

The backs of Marik’s knees had been knocked against the marble edge of the fountain, and he twisted to his right, instinctively throwing out a hand to cushion the fall. But a short dip in the water didn’t make it any less wet. Luckily, but still embarrassingly, only his top half was soaked.

Marik’s stunned expression seamlessly flipped to rage, whipping around with narrowed eyes.

Joey could only vocalize his previous thought. “Fuck,” he muttered. Was it smarter to help, or to take off running?

Too late, Marik grabbed his hand and decided for him. Joey pulled him up a bit too forcefully, splashing more water onto the floor.

“Wh-what are you here for?” He stammered, still in surprise as he steadied Marik by the shoulder.

Both Marik’s mind and tongue were sharp, but his mouth worked faster, especially when he was angry. “Why I’m _here_ ,” he snapped, glancing down at his wet clothes, “is _your_ fault.”

Joey’s shock was wearing off, and he was already itching for a fight. His focus came back while he thought up a retort and realized this wasn’t just a casual (and literal) run-in; he was in the middle of a shift. Joey glanced around nervously at the pairs awkwardly watching the situation unfold, as well as the customers back at the ice cream shop. He could get in serious trouble for this, maybe even fired.

Marik reached down to the side pocket of his pants, remembering his wallet and phone. The outside of the wallet was damp, but the contents were fine. The phone screen lit up with the current time, 12:07. Joey’s luck had served him again, nothing was damaged.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back,” Joey burst out, clumsily pulling off the rest of the dog costume as he ran, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Marik watched with a mix of confusion and indignation at being left in the dust. One couple stifled laughter as they walked past. Another girl took a step forward, concern plain on her face. He caught her gaze and faked an embarrassed smile, slightly shaking his head to say he didn’t need help. And he _especially_ didn’t need pity. What he needed was for Joey to come back, because he was too proud to go running after him. Marik was trying to be a better person, he really was, but it absolutely wasn’t easy.

“I’m goin’ on break!” Joey yelled at Duke as he slapped his palms onto the shop’s small counter and tossed the dog costume through the ordering window and onto the floor.

“What? You can’t just—hey, what are you doing?!” Duke shouted back as Joey reached in and grabbed a blue drying towel set aside for cleaning dishes. 

“ _Marik’s here_ ,” he whispered in frustration, as if Duke was already supposed to know what was going on. He didn’t even have time to ask what Joey meant before he was gone again, sneakers smacking against the ceramic floor.

Marik had sat down on the edge of the fountain, wringing out the ends of his hair, now just in a tank top with his purple hoodie laid out beside him. He looked up at the loud sound of Joey’s footsteps.

“Here, uh, you can use this,” Joey said offering the towel, a bit out of breath.

“Thank you,” Marik said dryly.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he paused for a minute, unable to hide his curiosity, “But seriously, what are you doing back here? I thought you were at home.” 

Joey had only seen Marik once after the Battle City tournament, on their trip to Egypt which had also turned out to be Atem’s final farewell. He steered clear of Marik as much as he could then, without being too obviously rude. Yugi was quick to forgive, and Marik didn’t seem _as_ bad as he’d been, but he still gave Joey what he could only describe as the heebie-jeebies. It’s just how trying to fake friendship with a former brainwashing murderous cult leader was.

Marik scoffed slightly, “Don’t know where that is,” he said, frowning at the hand towel that was entirely too small to be of any help.

“...Oh. Well are your sibs here, too?” Joey didn’t mind them as much. Odion was actually a pretty cool guy; how they came from the same family he’d never understand.

“No.”

Marik’s flat answer hung in the air for a few seconds. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about it, and it might just not have been because of being shoved into a mall fountain. Either way, Joey wasn’t going to press him.

He held up the hoodie and looked at Joey, “You’re going to have to pay for this, you know,”

It was probably some sort of fancy material or something. But why wear clothes that can’t get wet? That’s just dumb.

Joey couldn’t resist, “Well that couldn’t be much, right? Looks like you got it half off!” He’d been waiting to crack a joke about the crop top look since he first met ‘Namu.’

Marik somehow managed to look even more unimpressed. _Worth a shot_ , he thought.

“Oh!” Joey sprang back upright, “Hold on, I’ll be right back. Again.”

Marik watched Joey race back to the ice cream stand, still forgetting the dog costume head on the fountain’s edge. It must have been another side job of his. Whether Marik wanted to or not, he remembered a good chunk about Joey thanks to the Millennium Rod’s power. The odd jobs he worked to scrounge up just enough for groceries, hiding the money from a father who’s flesh and blood might as well have been made of cigarette wraps and booze. His sister, one of the few bright spots in his life, separated from him. Joey was glad she’d have a better life with their mother, but he was bitter to be left behind—neglected.

Marik realized with a tinge of guilt that he only cared to skim through the bad memories; like flipping through the pages of a dictionary, impersonal and detached. Those emotions were the easiest and strongest to weaponize, and that’s all that had mattered. But it felt different now.

Duke was bringing over a large order of sundaes to a table, no doubt trying to work outside the small kitchen to see what was going on. Joey made a straight dash past him for the ordering window again, awkwardly and frantically grabbing supplies.

Duke strolled up to his side, casually spinning the empty tray on his finger, “So...what’s up?” he asked cooly, amused at Joey’s freakout while trying to put together the pieces of the situation.

Joey scrambled for a scooper, “I pushed Marik into the fountain. On accident! It wasn’t my fault. Well, it kinda was, but not really. It was those stupid kids,” he said, talking mostly to himself as he studied the daily ice cream flavors, “If I knew he was here I wouldn’t have done it!”

“Aww,” Duke cooed, always happy for a chance to bother the blond, “You guys had a meet cute!”

Joey clipped the side of the window while whirling around to look at his friend/supervisor, nearly dropping a cone into one of the tubs below, “A _what?_ ”

“You know, like in all the romcoms. A clumsy meeting, then you get to know each other better and slowly fall in—”

“Shut up!” Joey cut him off, “That doesn’t even make sense. We’ve met before, so it doesn’t count.”

“Uh huh.”

“And it wasn’t cute!” He paused, still flustered, “ _He’s_ not cute!”

Duke grimaced, “Ouch, you’re gonna say that with Marik right behind you?”

Joey spun around, only seeing the usual spread of tables and chairs. Lots of customers, but no Marik.

Duke laughed at the boy who now had a noticeable blush after hurting himself, being teased, _and_ falling for one of the easiest tricks in the book.

_Whatever_ , he was done with this. With a huff, Joey jogged towards the fountain again, then slowed back down to a walk as he got close, as if Marik couldn’t see him from 100 feet away. Now he was paranoid about looking eager and had to play it cool.

“Here, this one’s on the house,” Joey said, trying to keep his voice level as he sat down, offering a double scoop cone. Marik just looked at him for a minute, drying his hair, wondering where to start with the idea that some mint chocolate ice cream was a proper apology.

“And how do you know I even like that flavor?”

He expected Joey to get aggravated with him for continuing to be difficult. Maybe he even _wanted_ to start a spat. Marik knew he should have worked a fake smile, said it was okay, and let it be. He’d gotten better at that recently. But having even the slightest justifiable chance to be a jerk, and to _him_ of all people, was just too tempting. Joey seemed somewhat of a natural punching bag somehow. He had an unbeatable, optimistic spirit and didn’t hesitate to strike back when he was down, which made pushing him all the more fun. _Like one of those clown dolls_ , Marik mused.

But Joey didn’t fight back this time. He blinked, a bit embarrassed. “Oh uh...I guess I don’t. I just thought it’d be your kinda thing.”

“And why is that?” Marik was actually curious. He didn’t know Joey’s feelings about him outside of intense dislike, maybe some lingering fear.

Joey looked to the side in thought, “Well, it’s a pretty popular flavor. People either really like it or really hate it. I hate it.”

A pause as his brain caught up with his mouth, “Not that I hate you! Well yeah I mean I _did_ , but I’m tryin’ to be nice! It’s just, you know, you probably like all the stuff I don’t. I dunno. I can go get something else,” he trailed off.

Marik laughed, genuinely. Joey felt thrown off again. He hadn’t seen that before. Even when Marik had pretended to be in their friend group, something was still _off_ about his attitude. Seeing the real deal was...weird. But nice. Really nice, actually.

“I appreciate your honesty,” Marik said, taking the dessert, “I’ve actually never had this before.”

“You’ve never had ice cream before?!”

“This _flavor_.” How sheltered did Joey still think he was? He’d eaten his fair share of ice cream, but something bright green and minty wasn’t his first choice.

“Oh. Well, it’s no cookie dough! That’s the _real_ best flavor,” He boasted. Something loaded with gobs of sugar already embedded in sweet cream. Simple, but childish somehow. Fitting.

“Hm, not bad,” Marik said after taking a taste, still thinking.

“See, I knew you’d like it! I got this special talent for knowin’ what people like.” Joey said, proudly pointing a thumb at himself, glad to have proven his worth in some small way.

Another small laugh, “I suppose you do.” It was amusing to him. Joey, the boy he’d literally controlled and slipped into the mind of, not seeing the irony in asserting _his_ skill of reading people. But maybe he had a point. Marik couldn’t do that anymore. He could easily tell when people were lying, but he couldn’t even begin to guess something as all-important as someone’s ice cream flavor preferences.

“Perhaps I’ll need your help another time,” he leaned back, a small smirk on his face.

“Huh? Whaddya mean?”

“I plan on staying in Domino for a while, so it won’t hurt to swing by and learn more about your ice cream skills,” Marik motioned his head toward the stand. Joey looked over and noticed Duke watching them, giving a big grin and thumbs up.

Joey’s face reddened. _Great, I’m gonna hear about this for a week_.

“Uh, that won’t really work, I mean I got shifts to take care of, ya know?”

“Ah, right. I’ll catch you after work then.”

“Yeah, that’s— ...after?” He really only hung out with his usual gang. How would Marik fit into all that? The idea of Marik waiting to greet him after a shift was almost uncomfortable. What would they even do? Kick around the mall? Go see sights in the rest of town? Get some dinner? It all seemed strangely intimate to imagine.

His slight panic was interrupted, “Of course. And you really do still owe me. But I know you’re good for it,” Marik smiled, with just the vaguest hint of a threat. So this definitely would _not_ be the last time they saw one another.

“Y-yeah, sure! Well,” Joey announced loudly, fumbling with the dog costume head, “I gotta get back to work so I guess I’ll see you around or somethin’? But it was cool running into you, well not like _that_ but, uh,” he hated when he got like this, and couldn’t understand why it was happening now, “Hope you have a good day! Bye!” he ended awkwardly.

Marik watched him run off for the third and final time. His clothes were still damp, but he didn’t mind so much anymore. He took a small bite of ice cream, which was already beginning to melt. The day actually _was_ shaping up to be pretty good, because now he had something to look forward to. He’d have the chance to fluster Joey every week or so, and maybe learn more about him. But this time he would make sure to only learn the good things.


End file.
